Allium senescens Lisa Green

Allium senescens 'Lisa Green' is an unassuming ornamental garlic, with many qualities for the garden. Its tuft of fresh green linear leaves appears early in spring and lasts long after flowering, remaining neat. It August and September, it produces a large number of pompom flowers in a tender blue-pink colour, visited by pollinating insects. No more difficult to grow than a perennial, it thrives in the sun, in ordinary well-drained soil. Hardy and tolerant of summer drought, it beautifully enhances rockeries, sunny borders, and pots. Its flowers are very long-lasting in bouquets, both fresh or dried.

Allium senescens 'Lisa Green' is a hybrid variety of ornamental garlic derived from the species A. senescens. This cultivar develops in spring from a bulbous rhizome that forms a beautiful tuft of upright, quite slender, linear, shiny, bright green leaves. It reaches about 30cm (12in) in height and spreads laterally by its slightly suckering rhizome to at least 30cm (12in). Flowering occurs from August to September, in average climates. Flowering stems measuring 30cm (12in) in height emerge from the centre of the tufts. Each stem bears a solitary inflorescence in the shape of a sphere 5 to 6cm (2in) in diameter. The inflorescences are composed of a multitude of tiny lilac-pink star-shaped flowers. They are nectar-rich and attractive to bees.

Planted en masse along a pathway or as a border for flower beds, or even combined with perennials in shades of pink and blue, this perennial garlic 'Lisa Green' proves remarkable in a romantic mixed-border. It accompanies daylilies, bellflowers, and agastaches. In an unusual flower and vegetable bed, it can be combined with chives, chard with coloured petioles, Pennisetum 'Rubrum', purple basil, and many others. For a more dynamic effect, its flowers can structure a contemporary garden where several geometric shapes oppose each other. It can be associated with Stipa tenuifolia, lavender, and cone-shaped trimmed boxwoods.

In short, there is no lack of inspiration where these plants are concerned. There is certainly a corner of your garden where this garlic will work wonders.